Telehealth for Comprehensive Care to Quarantine Residents: A Novel Approach and Lessons Learned

Abstract

Proactive engagement and care with regular and timely information are required to manage the health and well-being of people in quarantine. At Australia's Howard Springs International Quarantine Facility, a telehealth model was rapidly established using trained non-clinical Customer Service Officers (CSO's) with the aim to provide comprehensive care to residents, maximize staff safety, and reduce clinical workforce capacity pressures. We describe this model, whereby CSO's provided residents with daily COVID-19 symptom and well-being screening, weekly psychological screening, and ongoing linkage to additional clinical and administrative services. In addition, CSO's went beyond these duties to deliver personalized care through delivery of care packages and attendance of the departure point to farewell residents. From October 2020 to May 2021, across 7105 residents, we estimated that CSO's prevented over 75 000 face-to-face resident visits, which reduced workforce requirements and preserved staff safety through minimizing potential COVID-19 transmission and time spent in personal protective equipment in the challenging ambient environment. We share key lessons learned which may inform future telehealth models and guide a positive experience for quarantine residents.

The Influence of Telemedicine Adoption and Facility Accreditation on Patient Satisfaction and Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Rural Colombia

“…By conducting virtual consultations, patients can receive medical advice, diagnoses, and follow-up care without physically visiting a healthcare facility (Ali & Ghertner, 2023;Aufa et al, 2023). This reduces the need for in-person visits and minimizes the risk of exposure to infectious agents (Curtis et al, 2023;DeGuzman et al, 2022;de la Puente Pacheco & Perez Hernandez, 2023). Telehealth ensures a clean and safe healthcare environment for both patients and healthcare providers.…”